Pay rise and new priorities
2026/04/21
TU Darmstadt has a new collective agreement: following two rounds of negotiations, TU Darmstadt and the trade unions ver.di and GEW have agreed on a pay rise and further improvements for our employees. Some key points go beyond the collective agreement for the public sector in Hesse.
The new collective agreement, which is also to be extended to civil servants, provides for a pay rise of 3 per cent for TU Darmstadt staff from 1 July 2026, with a minimum of 110 euros, and a further increase of 2.8 per cent from 1 October 2027. Trainees will receive pay rises of initially €80 and then €70 at the same dates. The trade unions did not agree to a possible postponement of the pay rises in favour of the taxfree relief bonus of €1,000. The Landesticket Hessen will be extended until the end of 2028.
Furthermore, at TU Darmstadt, the remuneration regulations are being amended to allow for a more precise classification of academic staff in university teaching. TU Darmstadt is also taking its own approach to the classification of janitors in order to better take professional experience into account. To further strengthen vocational training at TU Darmstadt, an allowance has also been agreed for employees who are involved in this.
“This collective agreement is a good outcome for all of us,” explained the Chancellor and chief negotiator of TU Darmstadt, Dr Martin Lommel. “Even in the challenging budgetary situation, we were able to agree on fair pay rises and also use our collective bargaining autonomy to adjust the remuneration regulations. This allows us to recognise not only outstanding research but also outstanding teaching by academic staff under collective bargaining law, and we are the first university in Germany to implement this in our remuneration regulations.”
A collective agreement for student employees was not discussed further during the final negotiations. For student employees at TU Darmstadt, pay rates will be increased in line with the agreement in the state of Hesse – in the lower pay band, they will rise from the current €14.20 per hour to €15.20 starting winter semester 2026/27 and to €15.90 starting winter semester 2027/28. In the higher pay band, the hourly rate will initially be increased to €16.46 and then to €16.92 at the respective dates.
Background: TU Darmstadt’s own collective agreement
The transfer of employer status on 1 January 2010 is part of the TUD Act passed by the Hessian State Parliament. With this, the university has assumed responsibility for the employment relationships of its staff. Since then, TU Darmstadt has been reviewing and negotiating with the trade unions to determine whether the collective agreement provisions agreed in the State of Hesse are suitable for TU employees or whether alternative arrangements would be advantageous. This is only possible if the collective agreements are considered in their entirety and negotiated with the trade unions. This is also a key reason why the State of Hesse does not automatically adopt the collective agreement (TV-L) agreed by the Collective Bargaining Association of the German States.
At TU Darmstadt, for example, it was possible to pay out an increased special COVID-19 payment to employees in the lower pay bands whilst also offering the option of deferred compensation for the purchase of a leased bicycle. This makes TU Darmstadt a pioneer and driving force for the TV-L across Germany. In the current round of collective bargaining, for example, reduced canteen prices for trainees and improvements to the renumeration regulations – particularly for university teaching staff – were agreed.
KOM
